Jumping on track for Gen Y

This month, Sydney Anglicans are receiving statistical comparisons of their congregation profiles with the surrounding local community.

No doubt there will be some parishes who will feel disheartened by the lack of young people in their pews compared to the surrounding community.

What should they do?

It would be easy to trivialise the size of the task. The need is immense and the opportunities are great.

Overall Sydney Anglican ministry to teens is relatively strong. About eight per cent of Sydney Anglican churchgoers are aged 15 to 19. The average for Protestant congregations is six per cent. There was also a very notable increase in the number of Christian young people in our churches over the past five years.

Nevertheless, estimates from the 2006 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) show that Sydney Anglican churches are only connecting with around 10,000 teenagers.

In contrast there are around half-a-million teenagers living within the boundaries of the Diocese of Sydney.

By any measure, many thousands of Australian young people are growing into adulthood without any knowledge of the life-giving grace of the Lord Jesus.

So how will we reach each new generation of young people with the message of life in Christ?

Across the age spectrum, most people become Christians in their teenage years.

Nevertheless there are huge differences in the main ministry strategies involved if you compare those Christians who are baby boomers and older with younger generations.

Older people cite Sunday school and major evangelistic events significantly more than younger people as important in their coming to faith.

Youth groups and camps are cited by younger people.

This may well reflect the increasing importance of youth groups and camp experiences for the future and the decreasing importance of Sunday school and major evangelistic events.

Today, three in four Gen Ys are converted through just two types of ministry - a church service or a youth group.

Connecting youth to a church service

A recent trail-biking weekend for teenage sons and their dads run by Christ Church based at Penrith Anglican College (PAC) proved a roaring success. Four out of five of those who came were not Christians.

“I had many very significant gospel conversations,” says minister of Christ Church, the Rev Mark Bonnici.

The trail bike initiative illustrates the secret behind the extraordinary growth at Christ Church – an ordinary church service centred on a very strong school community connection.

“I think generally we [Sydney Anglicans] are good at putting on events but have not been so good at this pre-evangelism – just making friends and connecting with people.”

Mark estimates that he is networked with about 5,000 people through his close connection with the PAC school chaplaincy run by George Statheos.

In the past four years, the new church has grown from a handful of families to two services – morning and evening - both overflowing their home in an 80-seat music recital room.

About seventy 15- to-19-year-olds plus parents regularly attend the one-year-old youth-orientated evening service. Very few have transferred from other churches.

Mr Bonnici says the most pleasing development in the last six months is that ex-students who have graduated from PAC are now coming and ‘bringing along their friends’.

Running a youth group with no resources

Churches in rural areas often face the ‘worst-case scenario’ when it comes to running a youth group. Once young people finish school they leave for the big smoke.

Huskisson Anglican Church on the NSW south coast has pioneered an alternative model that may work for many churches struggling to sustain a youth ministry.

For the past 10 years, the local parents have hands-on led the youth ministry. They have been supported in this task by Youthworks’ regional youth ministry advisors, who have organised an ongoing Bible teaching plan, including guest speakers. 

“You don’t have to be 20 years old to be a youth minister,” says Paul McPhail, youth ministry advisor for Wollongong Region, “You just need two qualifications: you love Jesus and you love the young people.”

This year Huskisson (pictured) was able to recruit Brett Hall from nearby Nowra as an MTS worker. His appointment has taken the ministry to another level, with plans to run the monthly youth church service every Sunday evening.

He has also begun a boys’ lunchtime Bible study at Vincentia High that has grown from nothing to 20, building on the work of the full-time Scripture teacher at the school and a girls’ group run by the local Baptist youth minister.

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